GlaxoSmithKline to work on cheap malaria drug

GlaxoSmithKline is linking up with the World Health Organisation to develop a malaria treatment to be sold cheaply to poor countries in Africa.

The new treatment, Lapdap, is made from existing anti-malaria drugs and is effective against strains of the mosquito-borne disease resistent to current remedies. It would be offered at a preferential price for public health programmes, the company said.

Malaria is endemic in large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, where 90% of the world's 300m cases occur. About 3,000 people, mostly aged under five, die each day from the disease.

The company said the treatment will be available in some countries next year. Clinical trials have shown its effectiveness in uncomplicated cases of malaria - including some resistant to other drugs.

A joint team from the WHO and Glaxo is overseeing the project which is funded in part by Britain's Department for International Development.

"This agreement shows public-private partnerships can achieve important practical results," said Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, director general of the World Health Organisation.

"It is an important collaboration, not only because it will bring a new drug to the market but also because it includes a price structure that aims at making the drug affordable for those who need it."

Glaxo, the world's biggest drugs firm by sales, has come under fire from development groups for pressuring poor country governments which buy cheap copies of its drugs.

Activists claim it and other large drug companies do little to fight disease in the developing world and block moves by poor countries to import or copy the drugs they need.

Yesterday's announcement came just a day after Glaxo said it would work in developing an anti-malaria vaccine with a charity founded by Bill Gates of Microsoft. The aim is to develop and test a vaccine to protect children from a common strain of the disease.

Lapdap is being made from two existing anti-malaria drugs - chlorproguanil and dapsone - and is entering its final development phase.

 Malaria kills at least 1m people each year, about 3,000 a day

 40% of the world's population live in areas with malaria risk but nine out of 10 cases occur in Africa south of the Sahara

 The cheapest anti-malaria drug - chloroquine - is rapidly losing its effectiveness in almost all endemic countries

 In parts of south-east Asia, strains of malaria have developed resistance to the four leading anti-malarial drugs